Vital Signs

Coal Use Rises Dramatically Despite Impacts on Climate and Health

World coal consumption in 2006 reached a record 3,090
million tons of oil equivalent (Mtoe), an increase of
4.5 percent over 2005, and accounted for 25 percent of
world primary energy supply and 32 percent of fossil fuel
energy. Due to its high carbon content, however, coal accounted
for about 40 percent of global carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions
from fossil fuels.

China led world coal use with 39 percent of the total, followed
by the United States (18 percent), the European Union
(10 percent), and India (8 percent). China’s rising coal consumption
accounted for more than 70 percent of the increase
in global consumption in 2006. China seems to have brought
about as much coal power capacity on line each week as the
United States and India together did over the entire year, an
unprecedented 90 gigawatts.

Grain Harvest Sets Record, But Supplies Still Tight

After several years of decline, the world’s grain output
reached a record 2.316 billion tons in 2007, a 4-percent
increase over the previous year. Yields rose 95 million
tons in response to near-perfect weather in major growing areas
and an estimated 5-percent jump in world fertilizer use. However,
commodity analysts estimate that high demand will consume
all of the increase and prevent replenishment of cereal
stocks, now at their lowest level in 30 years. On average, humans
get about 48 percent of their calories from grains, a share that
has declined just slightly, from 50 percent, over the last four
decades. Grains, especially corn and soybeans, are also the primary
feedstock for industrial livestock production.

China, India, and the United States currently account for 46
percent of global grain production; Europe, including the former
Soviet states, grows another 21 percent. The global grain
harvest has nearly tripled since 1961, while world population has
doubled. As a result, the amount of grain produced per person
grew from 285 kilograms in 1961 to a peak of 376 kilograms in
1986. In recent decades, annual per capita production globally
has hovered around 350 kilograms, but it varies dramatically
by region, standing at roughly 1,230 kilograms per year in the
United States (most of it fed to livestock), 325 kilograms in
China, and 90 kilograms in Zimbabwe. People consume 48
percent of the world’s grain directly, while 35 percent becomes
livestock feed. A growing share (17 percent) is used to make
ethanol and other fuels.